Thesauraus On Aol Will Remove Homosexual Slurs

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE - SOUTH

January 19, 1999

DULLES, Va. - America Online and Merriam-Webster Inc. temporarily pulled an online thesaurus after gay-rights organizations complained that several slurs were listed as synonyms for ``homosexual.'' ' Deborah Burns, Merriam-Webster's director of marketing, said the company decided Monday to remove all synonyms for ``homosexual'' to conform with a 25-year-old policy not to offer entries for racial or ethnic groups such as Jews, Hispanics or blacks, Burns said.